


he's a natural (i can't look away)

by choose_joy



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: 3-1+1, Getting Together, M/M, Zolf is good with kids, it's a new genre i made up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:07:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27185636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/choose_joy/pseuds/choose_joy
Summary: three times zolf was good with kids, one time he wasn't, and one time he caught hamid staring.
Relationships: Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan/Zolf Smith
Comments: 11
Kudos: 32





	1. 1

Zolf has a baby.

For a second, Hamid’s brain shorts out when he realizes what is happening. It isn’t until Zolf gives him a funny look that he realizes he’s been staring.

“--mid? Are you good?” Zolf asks, shifting the child closer to his hip, gently removing the little hand that’s curled itself tightly in his beard.

“Y--yeah!” Hamid squeaks in response, “Uh... why do you have a baby?” And now that he looks closer, it's definitely not a dwarven child, and Hamid’s not quite sure why that’s as much of a relief as it is.

“Oh, uh, his mum spilled a coffee down her shirt and asked me to hold him while she changed,” and oh, that makes a lot more sense than the elaborate fiction his mind created.

As if on cue, a stout human woman exits the restroom next to them, thanking Zolf profusely for taking care of her child. He blushes a bit, unused to such earnest compliments, waving her off with a gruff “no problem, ma’am”.

If Hamid catches himself giving a soft little smile at the exchange, well, how can he help it? Babies are cute!


	2. 2

They’re combing the streets of Paris, looking for a lead on the whole Mr. Ceiling nonsense when they encounter a kid again. Hamid almost doesn’t notice them until they’re under his nose, because, for some reason, they go straight to Zolf, their tiny hand tugging on his oilskin jacket. Zolf immediately stops walking and rocks down a bit so he can look in the child’s eyes and-- gods, they can’t be older than 4 or 5, Hamid thinks.

The child and Zolf speak in hushed tones that Hamid can’t overhear, but it’s clear from the cadence that Zolf is... really good at calming down children. Hamid can see them wipe away tears before putting a wet hand in Zolf’s, who wraps them in a tiny bit closer to himself. “Hey,” he says, gruffly, “gonna go find the kid’s da.”

“Oh!” Hamid replies, “I’ll come with you!” Which is apparently the wrong thing to say, because the child shrinks further into Zolf’s side.

“Um, maybe not this time,” Zolf responds.

“No, yes, of course, I wouldn’t-- absolutely, why don’t I meet you at-- at that café we passed?” Hamid stutters.

Zolf gives him a nod and nudges the child, who begins pulling him down the road. As they walk away, Hamid can hear Zolf’s low tone, but then... the child laughs, and it really is a lovely sound.


	3. 3

“That’s a baby,” Sasha says, shocked.

Sasha, Hamid, and Zolf are all out for a walk. Prague really is beautiful, even if they’re all on edge. It's obvious to Hamid that Zolf wants to talk about something, but... sue him, he just wants a normal evening with his friends.

Now, though... well, now there’s a gnomish baby lying in the middle of the alley, with seemingly no one around it. Ironically, (or perhaps not, after seeing it happen a few times now,) Zolf is the first one to leap into action, picking the child up and holding them close to his chest.

“Er... what do we do, boss?” Sasha asks, clearly uncomfortable.

“I don’t know, Sasha. Hamid, do you know anyone...” Zolf trails off, pitching his voice up at the end in a sort of pseudo-question.

“Oh!” Hamid says, “I do, actually!” And so off they go, towards the home of a former professor of his.

If Hamid stares at Zolf’s tattoo-covered arms (holding the baby so gently it should be criminal, humming what sounds like a sea shanty), well, then, that’s his business and no one else’s.


	4. -1

There’s a child crying in the middle of Aziza’s funeral reception.

Not for the first time, Hamid feels a pang through his chest.


	5. +1

Ishaq and Ismail get on with Zolf like a house on fire.

At this point, it's not even a surprise-- of course Zolf would be just as good with young teenagers as he is with babies.

“Zolf,” Hamid asks, the second the boys have run off to the other side of the yard, “how do you get kids to like you so easily?”

Zolf, for his part, looks confused at the question. “I’m... not?” he responds.

Hamid just laughs for a moment before realizing the dwarf is serious. “Really?” Hamid asks, “You haven’t noticed?”

“Hamid, I hate to break it to you, but I am not good with kids. I don’t have the slightest clue what to do with them,” he replies.

“Well, that’s not entirely true,” Hamid returns, “You know how to hold a baby, and you’re good at comforting them, like-- like that scared kid in Paris who lost their dad? And you knew what to do when we found the baby in Prague, a-and Ishaq and Ismail love you--”

“Hold on,” Zolf cuts in, “they do?”

“Yes!” Hamid replies, “Did you see how excited they were to hear you talk about your fight with the water elemental?”

“That wasn’t too much?”

“No, of course not! They’re teenagers, they want to-- to hear that stuff! They don’t want to be treated like babies a-and you didn’t treat them like one. They were so  _ happy,  _ Zolf.”

“Oh,” is the response, “I thought they were just being polite.”

“When have you ever expected teenagers to be polite?”

“Point taken, Hamid.”

The duo devolve into silence for a moment before Zolf speaks back up: “Why do you remember all that stuff?”

At this, of course, Hamid flushes bright red. “Oh! O-oh, I uh, well you see, I mean, it's just not all that surprising, or--or we don’t see kids that often, th--that is to say--”

Zolf is laughing at him.

“Hey!” Hamid responds, “It isn’t funny!”

“It's a little funny, Hamid,” chuckles Zolf, before leaning over to press a light kiss to his cheek.

For once, Hamid’s mouth snaps shut almost comically quickly before his face turns an even darker shade of red.

“For what it's worth,” Zolf says, “I think you’re cute when you’re flustered.”

Across the yard, twin voices let out identical noises of disgust, making obvious retching noises.

“I think you might not be their favorite anymore.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is a new genre i've made up called 3-1+1 because i can't write a 4+1 without a little angst
> 
> anyway i just think zolf is really good with kids even if he doesn't realize it!!
> 
> as always, you can find me on tumblr at thisisadingdongblog and twitter at @choose__joy! i'd love to respond to some prompts, so feel free to send them my way!


End file.
